Water-meter.



PATENTED DEG. 20,1904.

' No; 778,086. I 4

- J. THOMSON.

WATER METER.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 19, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

jnveniar:

Iva 778 ,0 86.

- j UNITED STATES Patented December 20, 1904.

PAT NT OFFICE.

JOHN THOMSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO N EPTUNE METER GOM- PANY,OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW, JERSEY.

WATER-METER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 778,086, dated December20, 1904,

I Application filed October 19, 1903. Serial No. 177,620.

T0 (ZZZ whont. it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN THOMsON, a citizen of the United States,residing in the borough of Manhattan,.of the city of New York, in thecounty and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Water-Meters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates primarily to watermeters, and is based upon thewell-known fact that water when frozen increases in volume, theexpansion due to the transformation being practically irresistible, withthe result that the containing vessel will be distorted or disrupted atits weakened portion, causing the destruction of the vessel for furtheruse unless some provision is made to save the operative and essentialparts of thevessel under the stress, as by providing some predeterminedpart designed to yield or break under the excessive strain.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, Figure lis a view,partly in ele- Vation and partly in vertical section, of a water-meterembodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a bottom or under side view of themeter shown in Fig. l, and Fig. 3 is a detail view of the bracket orspider for supporting the internaldisk-chamber casing.

The meter shown in the accompanying drawings is a disk water-meter, andAis the main or outer casing. B is the lower inclosing head or bottomtherefor.

O is the internal casing or disk-chamber, which is rriade in two parts,containing the nutating disk. (Not shown.) I dd; is the spindle attachedto the ball of the E is the arm which is connected to the shaft forminga part of the registering mechanism located within the outer inclosingcase above the disk-chamber, the registering mechanism not being shown.

F is the hinged cover inclosing the dial and pointers. (Not shown.)

Gr is the inlet-port, and H the outlet-port, of

1 the meter,. and I is the usual screen for excluding from the meterforeign matter.

The bottom B is shown as being circular inturned inwardly-projectingflange n of themain casing, forming the seat for the gasket.

The bottom B is provided with a central orifice which opens into or iscontinuous with a short tubular section or neck O, provided on itsoutside surface with a male thread, the neck O being preferably integralwith the bottom B, as in the construction shown in the drawings. Overthis neck O is secured a cylindrical cap P, provided on its insidesurface with a female thread with which the male thread of the neck Oengages, thereby forming aboX or housing for the resilient devicehereinafter referred to. The cap P is provided witha central opening Q,for the purpose to be presently eXplained,-and this cap P is alsoprovided withany desired number of feet R, three being shown in thedrawings, the meter in its upright position, as shown in Fig. 1, restingthereon, the cap P beingalso provided with a broad annular flangeS,where by to afford an adequate support for the meter.

The orifice in the bottom B is designed to be closed by the plug T,which plug is normally maintained against the orifice in the bottom B toclose the same by means of the coiled springs V V'or other resilient orretroactive means, which rests upon the inwardlyprojecting flange W ofthe cap P. The bottom B has an inwardly-projecting lip or flange a,which furnishes a seat or bearing for the plug T, between which flangeand plug isinserted a gasket 6 in order to render the joint water-tight.r

In order to support the disk-chamber casing and hold it to its seat a onthe'inside of the main casing, a bracket or spider is prosupportingmember shown in the drawings f 1s a rmghavlng 1nwardly-pro3ect1ng radialarms g, the inner ends-of which depend and are designed to rest upon theplug T, the plug T being provided with a central stud h, which isencircled by the prongs g, as shown in Fig. 1, whereby the supporting-bracket is held in central position. The outer diameter of thering f of the supporting member, as shown, is very nearly of the samediameter as the bottom of the disk-chamber, furnishing thereby a largesupport for the disk-chamber; but I desire it to be understood that myinvention is not limited to the particular construction of supportingmember for the disk-chamber shown in the drawings and hereinabovedescribed, nor that the supporting member shall spread across the entirebottom of the diskchamber, the essential function of the supportingmember being that it shall furnish an adequate support for thedisk-chamber. The gasket M is not designed to but may project inwardlyover the flange L; but if this gasket should project thereover thedisk-chamber in that event would rest upon the gasket to a slightextent, as well as upon the supporting member.

When the coiled springs VV have been inserted in the neck 0 of thebottom B and the cap P screwed over the neck 0, forming the housingaforementioned, the coiled springs VV will thereby be compressed, theirtension forcing the plug T upward or inward to its seat or hearing inthe bottom B and also forcing upward or inward with the plug T thesupporting-bracket and the disk-chamber C until all of the parts aresecurely held together and in a water-tight manner, and the tension ofthe springs can be increased or reduced, according as the cap P isscrewed in or out, as will be readily understood.

In the construction of the various parts of the meter shown in thedrawings I prefer to make the outer inclosing case or main casing ofcomposition metal which will possess a high degree of ductility andflexibility, the disk-chamber casing of bronze, the supporting-bracketof more ductile composition, the bottom B and cap P and the plug T ofcastiron or low-grade brass, and the coiled springs V V of steel, andthe position and arrangement of the several parts when the meter is innormal operative condition is shown in Fig. 1.

In practical use of the meter the upper portion of the main casing abovethe disk-chamber would contain water, the lower portion of the maincasing would contain water, including the space below the bottom of thediskchamber surrounding the supporting-bracket, and the disk-chamberitself would contain water. 41

All of the parts of the meter, including the coiled springs V V, wouldbe designed to withstand the ordinary pressures in service such as thehydrostatic head, water-ram, and the like-the resistance to compressionof the coiled springs V V being regulated or adjusted in actual use ofthe meter by means of the cap P, as before explained.

It is of course not possible to definitely state in advance the exactmanner of freezing nor the exact location within the meter where thefreezing would first take place under all circumstances in service; butno matter where the freezing occurs whenever the pressure within themeter becomes greater than the meter is designed normally to withstandthis excessive pressure will travel in the direction of leastresistance-to wit, in the structure shown in the d 'awings inthcdirection toward the yielding plug T, which plug T will yield whenthe coiled springs V V yield, and the coiled springs V V will yield orcompress whenever the pressure due to the freezing above it exceedstheir resistance to compression. The coiled springs V V will heprimarily and normally of such tension and will be so adjusted by thecap P that while, as stated above, they will not yield to the ordinarypressures to which they may be subjected in service, yet they will yieldunder the excessive pressure due to freezing before any other part ofthe meter has yielded. '.l.herefore if, for example, the entire body ofwater within the meter should have frozen with the relief of pressureconsequent upon the yielding of the springs V V the disk-chamber willhave been forced away from its seat by the pressure of the ice above it,the disk-chamber casing will also have separated into its two componentparts at the line of separation m. by the pressure of the ice within it,and the supporting-bracket for the disk-chamber and the plug T will alsobe forced downwardly, all of said parts moving downuuirdly or outwardlywith the movement of the ice, the downward movement of the plug T uponthe yielding of the springs V V affording the requisite relief for thepressure and permitting the ice within the meter to move or accommodateitself within the consequent enlarged space. This downward movement ofthe plug T will separate the plug T from the bottom B, permitting anywater that remains unfrozen in the meter to flow through the orifice inthe bottom B and through the orifice Q in the cap P, thus affording therequisite relief where the entire contents of the meter are not frozen.Vhen the ice has melted, the springs V V will retroact and automaticallyrestore the plug T, the supportingbracket, and the disk-chamber to theirnormal operative positions, as shown in Fig. 1,

without the necessity of the reparation or replacement of any of theparts.

I do not limit myself to any particular dimension or size of orifice inthe bottom B, for it is obvious that the relative size of this orificewill depend in some measure upon the character of metals of which theseveral parts of the meter are composed. \Vhen the several parts aremade of-the metals hereinbefore referred to, I have found that therelative area of the orifice shown in the drawings is entirely adequateto afford the requisite relief. -Where the diameter of the orifice inthe bottom B which is closed by plug T is less than the diameter of thedisk-chamber casing or its supporting-bracket, the disk-chamber casingand its supporting-bracket will be prevented from dropping through theopening in the bottom B when the cap P is screwed off the neck O when,for example, it is desired to inspect the;

interior of the meter or furnish a new coiled spring or other resilientmeans or the like.

While I stated before that this invention was devised primarily for usein Water-meters,

yet I do not limit my invention to its use in connection withwater-meters per se, for my lnventlon may be applied to otherstructures,

and therefore while in the claims hereinafter following I claim myinvention as applied to water-meters, yet I desire it to be understood 1that I use the term water-'meterfto include not only water-meters perse, but all'analogous and other structures to which my invention may beapplied.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In a water-meter the combination witha main casing, of an internal casing, an inclosing head for the maincasing, an orifice in said inclosing head, adjustable means to closesaid orifice adapted to yield under excessive interior pressure, thediameter of theorifice in the inclosing head of the main casing beingless than the diameter of the internal casing, substantially as and forthe purpose set forth.

2. In a water-meter the combination with a main casing, of an internalcasing, an inclosing head for the main casing, an orifice in saidinclosing head, adjustable means to close said orifice adapted to yieldunder excessive interior pressure, the area of the orifice in theinclosing head of the main casing being less than the area of the bottomof the internal casing, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a water-meter the combination with a main casing, of an internalcasing, an inclosing head for the main casing, an orifice in saidinclosing head, a plug to close said orifice, a

support for the internal casing resting upon JOHN THOMSON.

In presence of ALFRED W. KIDDLE, A. N. JESBERA.

